52 Weeks to 50
One year to become fit, healthy, and organized before I turn 50. Essentially, this is a blog about encroaching middle age.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Week 4, late again.

Unlike most projects of this kind that start out with a bang and trickle off, this one started with a trickle and will hopefully start banging soon. The weeks between Thanksgiving and the end of the year are the busiest of all for college professors; to misquote T. S. Eliot misquoting Chaucer, "December is the cruelest month / bringing shadows out of the dead land / mixing memory with desire." So accomplishments have to be viewed in a different light. Most days, I managed to do some exercise. Some days it was my usual thing, some days less, some days I was glad to have a walk to the train because at least it provided a break from sitting and staring at piles of papers. Today I should get in my usual exercise, plus a little extra walking--75 minutes of Yoga, 1 hour of Zumba, plus the walks to and from the Y where I do these things, and a little extra en route to Physical Therapy. But there are still about 40 exams to grade and a lot of math to do . . .

And then the "Holiday Season" kicks into high gear. The combination of a mixed-up schedule, the Y not having classes, the pool where I like to swim when I'm not at school closed, my trainer on vacation, and extra eating isn't ideal to any of the goals. So the challenge is to be creative and make sure I get out and do something, instead of staying in an doing nothing, except eat.

On 12/26, I have to return to the "Induction" phase of the Dropping Acid diet, in anticipation of going off Prilosec (after 9 months of 2x per day and 3 months of 1x per day), finally. This will probably last about a month or more. It's very restrictive and very boring. However, probabaly good for me; a kind of enforced "detox" if you will. I'm not sure I entirely believe in de-toxing or cleansing, certainly not in the kinds that involve eating nothing and only drinking lemon juice with cayenne pepper for a month. (That would certainly send my Reflux to the skies!) But having a plan to start breaking bad habits is a good thing; the craziness of the end of the semester, plus the general tendencies of winter, plus all those holiday goodies around makes it hard to eat well or responsibly. I've been very bad about chocolate, which I'm supposed to restrict, and weirdly, bad about not avoiding onions or garlic. Also, not being carefully low fat. And while I haven't had any heartburn, I also have been feeling "acidy." So knowing I have to change these habits, and having some enforced dates by which to do it, is a good thing. I will have to renew my affection for graham crackers.

So in terms of resolutions for this week--they will be the same. Next week, the true test of the year begins.